From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be taking notes, doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher.
What strategies are used by your CT to encourage students to attend and engage? Watch carefully how your CT moves around the room. Draw a map of the classroom and sketch a path showing (approximately) this movement.
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Mrs. Lydon,
I have not gotten the chance to see the middle school students work in a lab setting. However, I have seen Mrs. Lydon effectively facilitate whole class discussions. From the back of the room mostly all of the students are listening and taking notes when necessary. Together with the class Mrs. Lydon facilitates filling out a worksheet that gives the students a fun easy way to remember the parts of the atom. During this time all students actively participated in the lesson. Even the ones who are seated far away are being quite productive throughout the class.
Mrs. Couchon,
I have seen a few different style of classes taught by Mrs. Couchon so far. During labs (in this case a microscopy lab) students are extremely attentive to the lesson and work very well with their own individual microscopes. The class that I am particularly discussing is the Accelerated Bio class which is a sophomore level class. Mrs. Couchon actually made a point of saying that her accelerated classes (both Biology and Earth Science) are so independent that she is able to step away from the lab benches and go to a different area of the classroom without there being any problems. Sometimes when Mrs. Couchon is reviewing homework or notes from the day before a few students seem to not be paying attention. Mrs. Couchon keeps them engaged by directly asking those individuals questions in order to keep them on their toes. During the class discussion times Mrs. Couchon does move around the room in order to keep everyone engaged and participating.
Both CT's use a strategy of trying to work in at least 2 transitions into a class period. For example, Mrs. Lydon begins with a "daily question" and then transitions into either a lab, discussion, group work, etc. Mrs. Couchon uses a similar style by opening the class with a quick review of the previous day's material or homework and then transitions into a lesson. The lesson usually lasts a certain amount of time depending on the period and then she transitions into a concluding activity or discussion.
Both of these teachers have a lot of experience, so their methods are worth notices. I was hoping that you would describe student behaviors in more detail.
What strategies are used by your CT to encourage students to attend and engage? Watch carefully how your CT moves around the room. Draw a map of the classroom and sketch a path showing (approximately) this movement.
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Mrs. Lydon,
I have not gotten the chance to see the middle school students work in a lab setting. However, I have seen Mrs. Lydon effectively facilitate whole class discussions. From the back of the room mostly all of the students are listening and taking notes when necessary. Together with the class Mrs. Lydon facilitates filling out a worksheet that gives the students a fun easy way to remember the parts of the atom. During this time all students actively participated in the lesson. Even the ones who are seated far away are being quite productive throughout the class.
Mrs. Couchon,
I have seen a few different style of classes taught by Mrs. Couchon so far. During labs (in this case a microscopy lab) students are extremely attentive to the lesson and work very well with their own individual microscopes. The class that I am particularly discussing is the Accelerated Bio class which is a sophomore level class. Mrs. Couchon actually made a point of saying that her accelerated classes (both Biology and Earth Science) are so independent that she is able to step away from the lab benches and go to a different area of the classroom without there being any problems. Sometimes when Mrs. Couchon is reviewing homework or notes from the day before a few students seem to not be paying attention. Mrs. Couchon keeps them engaged by directly asking those individuals questions in order to keep them on their toes. During the class discussion times Mrs. Couchon does move around the room in order to keep everyone engaged and participating.
Both CT's use a strategy of trying to work in at least 2 transitions into a class period. For example, Mrs. Lydon begins with a "daily question" and then transitions into either a lab, discussion, group work, etc. Mrs. Couchon uses a similar style by opening the class with a quick review of the previous day's material or homework and then transitions into a lesson. The lesson usually lasts a certain amount of time depending on the period and then she transitions into a concluding activity or discussion.
Both of these teachers have a lot of experience, so their methods are worth notices. I was hoping that you would describe student behaviors in more detail.